10 Best Sheen Brothers Movies, Ranked According To IMDb

Sons of noted actor Martin Sheen, both Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen have made a name for themselves with a slew of film roles in various genres. The latter furthered his career later through TV credits like Two and a Half Men, and Anger Management.

Estevez might not have replicated his brother’s present-day TV success, but he garnered much acclaim as a part of the “acting Brat Pack” of the 1980s, appearing in ensemble-driven coming-of-age dramas like The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, and The Outsiders. Estevez co-starred with his brother in films like Loaded Weapon, and Badlands (in which both appear in uncredited roles).

10 Mission: Impossible – Emilio Estevez – 7.1

Brian De Palma’s spy thriller kicked off the blockbuster Mission Impossible franchise, establishing Tom Cruise’s legacy as an action star. Cruise plays Ethan Hunt, a member of the Impossible Missions Force who is framed for the murders of most of his team. As he encounters a mole, Hunt unearths a bigger conspiracy.

Emilio Estevez makes a brief appearance in the film as an IMF field operative called Jack Harmon, who’s killed off in the opening mission at Prague. Towards the end, it’s revealed that Hunt’s senior Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) was the one who betrayed Harmon and other IMF agents.

9 Major League – Charlie Sheen – 7.2

The baseball comedy Major League reunited Charlie Sheen with his Platoon co-star, Tom Berenger. Both play members of a fictionalized version of the Cleveland Indians. Their team plans to improve their declining gameplay just to spite their greedy manager (Margaret Whitton).

Over the years, Major League has acquired a cult status as a sports film and went on to spawn two sequels. Sheen’s portrayal of pitcher Ricky ‘Wild Thing’ Vaughn is still considered to be one of the funniest roles of his career.

8 TIE: Eight Men Out – Charlie Sheen – 7.2

Before Major League, Charlie Sheen’s tryst with baseball began with Eight Men Out, in which he starred alongside future stars like John Cusack and Michael Rooker. However, this sports film is a relatively serious drama set during the 1919 World Series. The premise mainly deals with a major gambling scandal when eight players of the Chicago White Sox entered a deal with gamblers to intentionally lose the Series.

The film benefited greatly from its lead ensemble and the historically accurate premise that might still attract modern-day baseball aficionados.

7 TIE: Wall Street – Charlie Sheen – 7.4

Wall Street marked Charlie Sheen’s second collaboration with writer/director Oliver Stone after the Oscar-winning Platoon. Sheen stars as a young stockbroker who forms an alliance with the immoral financier, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). The financial drama has had a drastic influence on the public perception of stockbrokers, Wall Street, and the notions of success in the 1980s.

While Sheen received praise for his performance, it’s Douglas’ lead act that overshadowed all other aspects of the film. The latter also went on to win the Oscar for Best Lead Actor, while reprising Gekko’s role in the 2010 sequel.

6 TIE: The Way – Emilio Estevez – 7.4

The Way served as a directorial vehicle for Emilio Estevez while also giving him an opportunity to share screen space with his father, Martin Sheen. Also written and produced by Estevez, the film focuses on a doctor (Martin Sheen) embarking on a Spanish pilgrimage to recover the body of his son who passed away on the same trail.

This eventually results in a heartwarming slice-of-life journey, unleashing Estevez’s dramatic potential behind the camera. The narrative aside, The Way also bears interesting glimpses of the real-life pilgrimage known as the Camino de Santiago that involves traversing several landscapes and cathedrals.

5 Being John Malkovich – Charlie Sheen – 7.7

Being John Malkovich is a highly surreal work of comedy that touches upon themes like human identity and sexuality. To sum it up in basic terms, the film deals with a group of people who discover the means to enter actor John Malkovich’s brain. What seems like an interesting cerebral trip soon turns into a self-introspective journey with traumatic aftereffects.

The sci-fi comedy/drama doesn’t shy away from its meta nature and features Malkovich and Charlie Sheen playing themselves. When the former doubts that his brain is getting invaded, Sheen just ignores his friend’s paranoia and concludes that these thoughts are a result of being “stoned.”

4 TIE: The Breakfast Club – Emilio Estevez – 7.8

John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club remains one of the most monumental high-school Hollywood movies. The drama introduces five high-schoolers who end up meeting each other in a life-changing detention class.

The Breakfast Club proved to be a major stepping stone for its young cast, including Emilio Estevez who played Andrew Clark, the quintessential school jock. A member of the wrestling team, he faces a lot of pressure from his controlling father who expects Clark to achieve way more than his potential. Estevez’s character, just like the rest of the cast, represents a sense of teenage angst that makes the film all the more relevant, even in modern times.

3 TIE: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – Charlie Sheen – 7.8

In another ’80s classic by John Hughes, the premise is pretty much in the name itself. The titular protagonist (Matthew Broderick) decides to skip school for a day, engaging in a series of misadventures with his best friend (Alan Ruck) and girlfriend (Mia Sara).

While Ferris Bueller’s Day Off made a star out of Broderick, it also featured a then-unknown Charlie Sheen in a brief role as “Boy in police station.” Despite the minor screen credit, Sheen would find further fame just a few months later with the release of Platoon.

2 Badlands – Charlie Sheen & Emilio Estevez – 7.8

The neo-noir Badlands marked Terrence Malick’s directorial debut. Martin Sheen played the lead as the violent, anti-social drifter Kit Carruthers, while Sissy Spacek appeared as his girlfriend Holly Sargis, who accompanies him on his path of destruction.

While the technical aspects offered hints of Malick’s future style of lyrical photography, Badlands’ central plot was inspired by the real-life spree killer, Charles Starkweather. Both Emilio and Charlie appear in the film in uncredited roles as two boys sitting under a lamppost.

1 Platoon – Charlie Sheen – 8.1

Platoon joins the ranks of other anti-war films like Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now, which offer a humanistic picture of the Vietnam War. The duality of man is explored in great levels in the film, as young US Army volunteer Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) faces the dilemma of choosing a faction within his platoon. While one Sergeant (Tom Berenger) believes that the enemy deserves no mercy, the other (Willem Dafoe) wishes to have restraint over violence.

The first installment of Oliver Stone’s “Vietnam trilogy,” Platoon won a Best Picture Oscar, while Stone took home the trophy for Best Director.

About The Author

Shaurya Thapa
(724 Articles Published)

Shaurya Thapa is an Indian freelance journalist who mostly dabbles in writings on cinema, music, and human interest features. When it comes to Screen Rant, he writes lists on a wide array of subjects ranging from international films to mainstream Netflix series and comic book trivia. He also hosts a podcast called ‘BhindiWire’, an Indian parody of IndieWire.

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